St. John's University Athletics
Red Storm Heads to Seton Hall on Sunday
2/5/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
QUEENS, N.Y. - Sitting in a tie for second place in the BIG EAST, St. John's and Seton Hall will play a critical contest on Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. in South Orange, N.J. The game will be broadcast nationally on FS1 with Rich Ackerman and Sarah Kustock on the call.
QUICK HITS
With 7-4 records in BIG EAST play, St. John's and Seton Hall were part of a three-way tie for second place in the conference standings heading into Friday. Villanova, the third team in that triumvirate, dropped a decision to league-leading DePaul at home, 75-47, on Friday afternoon to fall to 7-5 in BIG EAST action.
Following a pair of standout performances in the Midwest last weekend, Danaejah Grant was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday. On Friday night in a narrow loss to upstart Marquette, Grant tallied 19 points, six rebounds and three assists, sinking eight of her 14 shot attempts from the floor. Two days later against No. 23/21 DePaul, Grant scored a team-high 24 points to go along with seven rebounds. On the season, the senior guard from Piscataway, N.J., is averaging 19.1 points per game, good enough for second-best in the BIG EAST.
Often categorized as the team's "x-factor" by the coaching staff, Jade Walker put forth a dominant performance on Sunday against DePaul, pulling down a career-high 14 rebounds and adding eight points. Despite having a below average night from the floor (4-12), Walker still ranks second in the league in that field goal percentage, converting on 55.4 percent of her tries this season.
Despite falling six times this season, the Red Storm has yet to register a defeat that could be considered a bad loss on an NCAA Tournament resume. In the latest edition of the RPI released on Friday, all five of the opponents that St. John's has fallen to this season are ranked inside the Top 100, with the lowest ranking belonging to a young and talented Marquette team at 77. UCLA (8), Duquesne (25) and DePaul (26) all rank among the nation's top teams, while Villanova sports the conference's fourth-highest RPI at 60. The Red Storm also boasts victories over three teams in the top 50: Seton Hall (18), USF (40) and Rutgers (48).
SCOUTING SETON HALL
Coming off a split weekend in the Midwest, Seton Hall currently sits in a tie for second place in the BIG EAST with a 7-4 league record and a 17-5 mark overall.
Seton Hall ranks third in the conference with an offensive output of 74.5 points per game, while ranking second in field goal percentage defense at 37 percent.
Tabatha Richardson-Smith leads both the team and the league in scoring at 19.9 points per game. The senior guard ranks second in the conference in three-point field goals made per game (2.4) and sports the second-best free throw percentage in the league (84.7%).
Two other Pirates average double figures, as Aleesha Powell pours in 13.5 per game and Shakeena Richardson averages 12.9.
Tiffany Jones averages a near double-double, tallying 9.4 points and 8.5 rebounds per game for the Pirates.
ST. JOHN'S AND SETON HALL- THE SERIES
St. John's and Seton Hall have developed one of the fiercest rivalries in the league over the past two seasons.
Separated by two rivers and about 30 miles of driving distance, Seton Hall and St. John's have played four contests over the past two seasons, with each team taking home a pair of victories. In each of those four games, one of the teams has been ranked in the Top 25.
Dating back to the beginning of the series in the 1975-76 season, St. John's has taken on Seton Hall more than any opponent in program history and holds a 43-28 advantage all-time over the Pirates.
